River of Death (1989)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Cheesy, Low-Budget, but Colorful Action/Adventure with Scary looking and Color Coordinated Amazonian Tribesmen, South American Nazis Circa 1965, Big Haired Babes, and Non-Actor and Fan Favorite Michael Dudikoff.Along for the Fun is Robert Vaughn and Donald Pleasance Playing Dueling Old Fogie Nazis. The Pacing is too Slow and the Action Lackluster and looking Staged, the Film has Complications like Biological Scourges, and a Hidden Jungle City that Go virtually Nowhere.The Movie may Take Itself Too Seriously to be much Fun, but it Ends Up being a little Entertaining if You can Get into It. Whether it's Worth the Try will be a Matter of Tolerance and Taste. Overall, Average for this Type of Pre-CGI, Direct to Video Stuff. It's a Canon Production and the Hacks there Did and Do Have a Fan Base for this Type of Glossy Trash.

This movie was made and released about eight years after its source novel of the same name by Alistair MacLean was first published in 1981. "River of death" was MacLean's twenty-fourth novel and this movie was the fifteenth film adaptation of one of MacLean's stories. It's the first filmed adaptation of an Alistair MacLean to be made and released after the author had passed way. First and only made for cinema filmed adaptation of an Alistair MacLean story to be made and released during the 80s. Final to date made for cinema adaptation of an Alistair MacLean story. I haven't read the book , but I 've heard that it's one of MacLean's poorest books. So it's really no wonder that the movie sucks too. Michael Dudikoff is John Hamilton , a mercenary who leads the expedition into the heart of the Amazon in search of Nazi scientist. It turns out that they all have various motives for searching for a Nazi scientist in a lost city, but none of the revelations are very convincing. Most of the characters turn out to be someone other than who we thought they were. It might sound interesting , but believe me it isn't.The characters are VERY one dimensional , the twists are unconvincing and the plot is paper thin. The movie is TERRIBLY directed. It's strange , because director Steve Carver made some decent Chuck Norris movies before ("An eye for eye" and "Lone wolf McQuade"). Here the pacing is sluggish , the action is lame and there is too much talking.Dudikoff is capable B class actor , but he is lost here. Good actors like Donald Pleasance and Robert Vaughn are wasted. Even the Amazon scenery seems underused. There is no pretty scenery or good photography. It's dull, dull ,dull. It's a cure for insomnia. It's the worst kind of B movie making. It's not even "so bad it's good" type of B class movie. I give it 1/10.

Michael Dudikoff plays a freelance guide Hamilton, an expert in jungle expedition. While guiding a doctor and his daughter into the deep dangerous jungles of the Amazon, the doctor is killed and the daughter captured by indigenous primitive tribe of the mythical Lost City. Barely escaping death, Hamilton manages to return to the outpost of the Amazon basin and report the incident to the chief police. The chief police warns him not to return to the jungle but Hamilton adamantly tries to find other ways to return and rescue the kidnapped doctor's daughter.As fate would have it, he looks for his associate, an ex-WW II pilot who then introduces him to a wealthy businessman and his friends who want Hamilton to lead their journey into the Lost City. Hamilton accepts their offer after striking a lucrative deal. With an addition of several vested interests tagging along, Hamilton heads back into the perilous Amazon jungles to search for the Lost City and rescue his dead client's daughter. Based on Alistair MacLean's novel, this adventure film fails to keep audience interested much less thrilled. Regardless of the time you watch it, you will doze off halfway through the film or keep wanting to check the remaining run time on the screen. This is worth watching only for Dudikoff's die-hard fans. Try watching River of Death in one sitting if you are experiencing sleepless nights. It may be an effective method of sleep therapy.

River Of Death tells the story of an adventurer who helps a mysterious man and woman track down a nazi criminal who has been experimenting all kinds of nasty stuff on people and tribal villagers. Along the way there are attacks by natives, lots of martial arts and downbeat ending in this adaption of the novel. River Of Death is actually more well made than the usual Cannon output at the time. Indeed the production values are adequate and Dudikoff makes for a decent rough and tumble hero. However this just isn't very exciting material, which consists of bored performances (Pleasance and Vaughn) which show us the reality that nobody wanted to give anything but the bare minimum of effort. The tribal attacks do make some impact but most of the way through this rather sub-par stuff.*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)